Bangladesh opposition announces new blockades

[Sugarcane]

Hundreds arrested as police launch offensive against opposition protesters demonstrating against the ruling party.

A Bangladesh opposition group has called for a four-day national blockade in a bid to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down ahead of a general election on January 5.

During a press conference on Thursday, Bangladesh National Party (BNP) committee member, Nazrul Islam Khan, announced the blockade, the fifth since protests began in October, which will take effect at 6am on Saturday.

Previous blockades have targeted transport across the country, leading to an estimated $40b loss of revenue for Bangladesh after rail and road shipments were halted and industries like the garment business losing western custom.

Also on Thursday, Bangladesh security forces arrested more than 100 protesters as they launched an offensive on the opposition ahead of the controversial general election.

Officials said the protesters were detained in joint operations by the police, the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and paramilitary border guards.

The "joint forces" arrested 118 people, mostly activists from the main opposition BNP and its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami, in five districts where police had earlier clashed with demonstrators.

Election boycott

Both groups have said they will boycott the polls if the election goes ahead while Hasina is still in office.

The BNP, Jamaat and their smaller allies have been staging protests since late October to try to force Hasina to step down so that a neutral caretaker government can oversee the election.

She refuses to accept the arrangement, which was in place during previous national polls.

The BNP has refused to field candidates for the January election, saying the vote under Hasina will be rigged, an accusation the premier rejects.

Jamaat, the country's largest Islamist party which has been barred from contesting the polls, is also furious with the government after one of its leaders, Abdul Quader Mollah, was executed last week for crimes during the 1971 independence war.

Bangladesh opposition announces new blockades - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

 

[Sugarcane]

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government will go for a fresh election dissolving the 10th Parliament if the BNP-led Opposition stops killing people for political movements and comes to an agreement.

She said there was no scope for the Opposition to run for Parliament in the Jan 5 polls.

Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia has 'missed' this election, Hasina said at a meeting with her party's leaders at the Ganabhaban on Thursday.

"We can hold fresh elections dissolving [the 10th] Parliament if we reach a settlement through negotiations," the Awami League President said.

The Election Commission set Dec 2 as the last day for nomination submission.

The Opposition has rejected the election roadmap and gone ahead with its agitation to press for a non-party government's supervision in the polls and suspension of the election schedule.

This time, there is a record 154 single candidates. Balloting will take place only in 146 constituencies.

As the two leading political alliances were no nearer an agreement over the form of polls-time dispensation, different quarters, including the UN, pushed for talks.

UN envoy Oscar Fernandez-Taranco came to Dhaka in early December and made Awami League and BNP leaders sit for dialogues for a political solution.

"Talks are ongoing and it will continue even after the general elections," said the Prime Minister.

Led by the BNP, the 18-Party alliance has clamped four spells of blockades since Nov 25 in which over 100 people have been killed.

"She (Khaleda) must stop enforcing shutdowns, blockades and stop killing people [in the name of political agitations]," Hasina said, setting a pre-condition.

The Prime Minister firmly stated that the next general elections would be held on Jan 5.

Fresh polls if killings stop, deal made: PM -
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